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It was a sickening site. I looked it over and noticed a puncture in the left wing behind #2 engine. He said the boy inside was not just killed, he was destroyed. The secondary target was the Kumarkische-Zellewolle Viscose Fiber factory at Wittenburg, Germany. Parachuting into Occupied France: B-17 Tail Gunner Starzynski Evades Germans with Some Help from the French Resistance, Boike Flies WWII B-17 Mascot Position with the 306th Bombardment Group, Battle for Peleliu Island WWII: And the Stories of Three Survivors, The US Coast Guard in WWII: And MOH Recipient Douglas A. 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But, the gruesome and terrifying nature of being a ball turret gunner was captured in a poem by soldier and poet, Randall Jarrell, when he described the gunner being hosed out of his turret after dying during the mission in Death of Ball Turret Gunner. Most of all what was the dead mans name. Ball turret gunner's tale It was their second mission in "Berlin Special," a B-17 "Flying Fortress." Their four-engine bomber was part of the 92nd Bomb Group, 407th Squadron of the 8th Air Force flying out of an airbase near Podington, a tiny farm village some 40-miles northwest of London during World War II. The K-4 sight worked by using data inputs from the gunner to calculate the required deflection (lead). The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. More from us: The Mark 14 Torpedo Scandal of 1941-43, Poet Randall Jarrell, who served in the US Army Air Forces, outlined the terrifying and grim nature of being a ball turret gunner in his poem, The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner. The bomber is flying at a very high altitude and the speaker's life before war (even life itself), left far below, feels like an illusion. After that: three hours of circling the airfield to get in formation -- an absolute necessity to protect themselves against German counter attack. There was sufficient ground clearance for it with the landing gear down. Bobgee. Ball Turret Gunner: 3. One of the unique features of the B-17 bomber was the ball turret. "He was very easy to get along with very cheerful, very talkative and a very, very sweet guy," Jenkins said. Lines 1-2. It wasn't until I was about 9-years-old that I realized the impossibility. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. Tail Gunner: The pilot and co-pilot. Once we were out of the target area the crew got the track of my ball turret unjammed, cranked it around by hand until my trap door could be opened and pulled me out.. It offered them a sense of peace in knowing that they may not return. I have a question for the forum members to ponder. The ball turret on a B-17 could not be "cranked up", as it was not retractable. After the Connolly crew June 6, 1944, D-Day mission to Caen, France, Frank was hospitalized with pneumonia. Normally, German fighters didnt attack during final approach because of the flak, but this time they did. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of B-17s. The Ball Turret Gunner was one of the most dangerous positions to be filled in the military. Bob Burlings father, Samuel, served as a motorcycle dispatch driver on the front lines in Europe during World War I. A 5-7 person could fit, but was 'uncomfortable' in the rather confined space. He kept talking to him until the aircraft settled onto the ground. All combat missions were fraught with danger, but Frank spoke of a particular mission to Ludwigshaven, Germany, that became a test of his faith. The ball turret of a B-17 is suspended below the fuselage of the aircraft, between the radio room and the waist. Arguably one of the worst was as a ball turret gunner. The city was the site of a Nazi nuclear energy project. Hometown: Dayton, Ohio Via: US National Archives. It wasn't until 1944 that fighter escorts were deployed to accompany them on their missions. What happened that day, a (Junker) JU-88, German twin-engine attack bomber, flew into our formation of B-17s and tore into us. Due to scheduling and additional training received by some members of Frank's crew, he flew his first combat mission as a ball turret gunner with the Lt Dow C. Pruitt crew on April 18, 1944. Lines 3-4. The plane was flying at treetop level with only two of the four engines working. PBY Blister Gunner, Rescue at Rabaul, 1944. Deviating from the course and getting out of formation was sure suicide because German fighter planes were always lurking in the clouds, ready to pick off a random plane. But when I said that, at that instant, everything was just as peaceful as it can get. He thought he was going to be killed and started to pray. "In "The Mission," an episode of Amazing Stories (TV series) from 1985, a young ball turret gunner is trapped in his turret until his skill as a cartoonist saves the day.". Hot meals. A few are still flying today. "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" was written by Randall Jarrell in 1955. Dad didn't talk much about the war, but I think he'd be tickled that I'm writing a blog about Ball Turret Gunners. This has been a recurring nightmare of mine. So this undated photo shows what looks like a disintegrating turret, and the purported victim is still anonymous. =). Unit: 92nd Bomb Group, 407th Squadron of the 8th Air Force The ball turret was the most accurate and deadly turret on the B-17 & B-24 mostly due to it's advanced computing gunsight which was state of the art at that time. Transported from Scotland to England the Connolly crew was assigned to the 401st Bomb Group (BG), 613th Bomb Squadron, Deenethorpe. Permanently fixed and unable to be retracted, there was no hiding from enemy attack. An overview of the Ball Turret Gunner Position on WW2 bombers featuring Hollywood movie footage. I guess that didn't matter since your dad was over six feet. He had to sit on his flak jacket. By that time, thousands of airmen had perished over the skies of Europe. In 1945, towards the end of the war, a newspaper article told of planes flying over a tulip field in Holland on their way back from a mission. Normally, the gunner accessed the firing chamber by releasing a latch and raising the cover to a position perpendicular to the gun but this was not possible in the ball turret. Entered Service: 21 November 1942 Michelle, In 1942 my father was classified as 4F due to a heart defect. This copyrighted material may not be republished without permission. $0.99 + $1.09 shipping. My hubby says his father rarely spoke of those long 6 yrs. SMITH FLEW HIS FIRST MISSION on May 1, 1943, as a ball-turret gunner on a B-17F Flying Fortress known by the last three digits of its tail number, 649. The NMUSAF calls it an "urban legend" according to that account. Spouse: Frances His early fame, like Karl Shapiro's and John Ciardi's, was based on his war poems, published in the early forties. Frank and the crew stayed there for a few days while the B-24 mechanics repaired the B-17 engines. (LogOut/ Via input shafts from the ring gear, the K-4 then used the turrets horizontal and vertical movement speed to estimate the targets speed. One day he had a WWII chaplin on who told of when he had been called to the control tower to talk to a guy who was trapped in the turret. The pilot and the co-pilot must be able to start and to land the machine well and safe. They say your life flashes in front of you when youre about to die. His position resembled the fetal position. "Airmen badly wounded from flak would die without immediate medical attention at that altitude due to shock. Jarrell, who served in the Army Air Forces, provided the following explanatory note: A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. Two hundred, ten thousand airmen flew over Europe. The Connolly crew then went to Sioux City Army Air Base in Iowa for advanced overseas crew training. Injuries from flak accounted for more loss of life among the B-17 crews than any other factor. Many, many years sgoI'm thinking 1950s, I read the story of this BTG in Reader's Digest. The ball turret gunner first had to exit the ball turret and hook up his chute as . Ball turret gunners were courageous warriors. The pilot was First Lieutenant Lewis P. Johnson Jr., 21, flying the 25thand lastmission of his tour. In the tulips were spelled out the words, "Thank you Yanks. "The first in/The last out The most exposed/The least protected. I was stuck, Burling said with a tremor in his voice and tears in his eyes more than half a century after the incident. Left Waist Gunner: 5. The spherical manned ball turrets, deployed mainly on the bottoms of B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers, were very small in order to . Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Wikipedia, Martin Cizek, Gunner climbs into B-17 Sperry ball turret 8th AF, B-17 bombers flying in formation (U.S. Air Force photo), https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085F4YQ11/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0. The Dornier Do 19 was a long-range strategic heavy bomber that faced off against the Junkers Ju 89 as part. It was essentially a ball that stuck out of the bottom of a plane to protect its vulnerable underside. The turret also rotated 360-degrees, allowing the gunner to locate targets and stay on them, regardless of their position. All rights reserved. "About lunchtime, the B-17s hit their targets. Often soldiers who were smaller in stature were selected for this gunner job since it would have been even more uncomfortable for a taller or bigger person to fit in this awkward space. Made of Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the ball turret was a sphere attached to the bottom of the airplane. Every time we flew above Nazi-occupied Europe and survived it was a miracle. To get inside the ball turret, the gunner had to enter through the door located on the floor of the aircraft, positioning the ball so the guns were pointed toward the ground. By the end of a battle (which he never spoke of) he was promoted to captain. Last edited on 15 February 2023, at 01:43, "On "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Death_of_the_Ball_Turret_Gunner&oldid=1139421417, This page was last edited on 15 February 2023, at 01:43. Our bomb bay doors were open and we were on our final approach. On the ends of the grips were the buttons to fire the guns. With all of the emergency landings that were madewhy not! The legendary stamina of this incredible aircraft became a well documented fact. I was 5' 8" -- a little tall for the turret, but I accepted the assignment, which some deemed as a suicide position," my dad points out.On days that missions were flown, the crew was up at 2 a.m. preparing their aircraft, cleaning their guns, grabbing a quick breakfast, getting briefed on the impending mission. I had been born in August of 1947, years after the war was over. Ball turrets appeared in the nose and tail as well as the nose of the final series B-24. Top Turret Gunner/Engineer: 10. We learn details as time passes. The AN/M2 guns were lightened versions of the ground based M2 machine gun, with a rate of fire of 600-800 rounds per minute each. The base was about two miles east of Corby, Northampshire, England. Former Staff Sgt. The poem uses the job of a ball turret gunner to represent birth, death and their similarities. Somewhere in my boxes of family photos I have a picture of Dad standing next to a B-17 and the ball turret at an air show in the 1990s, but of course I couldn't find it for this blog. Two joysticks pivoted the ball around and around, up and down. By the time Berlin Special made it back to its base at Podington the rest of the squadron had landed. The Sperry ball turret was very small[clarification needed] in order to reduce drag, and was typically operated by the smallest man of the crew. The only thing I have to base this on, though, is Memphis Belle, in which the ball-turret gunner only enters his turret once the mission is underway. Greg Allen/NPR This Veterans Day, we're hearing. I just know that everything in the 8th AAF was so well documented I thought I would have read about it. Clickhereto view the War Tales fan page on FaceBook. The poem is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft. Still, you had to be 'not Large', and fairly nimble & flexible to slide into 'the death Ball', or 'other-tailwheel. Poet and critic Randall Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee. In "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," what does the speaker wake up to? renfield, Powered by Invision Community. We should have been blown to bits. It was mounted above and in front of the gunners head, so its reticule would be in line with his eyes. He did not endure the cramped cold that your father did. A trunnion system provided vertical movement. It was the job of the ball turret gunner, armed with a pair of .50-caliber machine guns, to defend the aircraft from attacks below. Arguably one of the worst was as a ball turret gunner. Rank: Staff Sergeant Twenty-six thousand never returned. ** Thank you to Dr. Vernon L. Williams, Military Historian and Professor of History, at Abiliene Christian University. A ball turret was a particular form of spherical-form, altazimuth mount movement manned aircraft gun turret, accommodating the gunner with nearly all the needed equipment for defensive firepower (except for the ammunition storage) mounted either within or onto the spherical shell of the turret structure, mounted on aircraft during World War II. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. For 1941 this was cutting edge technology. He talked about the terrible flak that ripped holes in the plane. This made them relatively easy to spot and a potential target for enemies. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. Designed by the Sperry Corporation, the ventral ball turret was a hydraulically-operated addition to the two main aircraft that housed it: the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. Thanks for the post, and the personal info. Click Here to sign up to be notified when new stories are published. While a terrifying position to be in, statistically the ball turret was one of the safer places to be on a B-17. After what seemed like an eternity, he saw the White Cliffs of Dover on the English coastline. The target was the German U-boat pens at Saint-Nazaire, France. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" was written around the end of World War II in 1945 by Randall Jarrell. Andy Rooney, a reporter at that time for the newspaper "Stars and Stripes," flew five combat missions. After the war he became a Baptist missionary. Poker games. Statistically, the ball turret was one of the safest crew Their friend in the ball turret had been calm, they said. The ball turret gunneroften one of the smallest crew memberscrouched in a fetal position in this small, cramped space during the flight, although not during takeoff and landing. See much more from Sgt Lester Schrenk! "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" written by Randall Jarrell is a poem that introduces three major ideas in only five lines. $15.95. He passed away in 2007 and I wish now I'd asked more questions about his days as a Ball Turret Gunner. That meant a bullet or piece of flak had entered the leading edge of the wing, exploded and torn apart the top of the wing where one of our gas tanks was located. They also received shooting practice on the ground and in tester aircraft. It also saw use with the US Navys PB4Y-1. Frank could not get out of the ball turret due to the centrifugal force created as the plane fell from the sky. The crew was unhurt, but ball turret gunner Hamill recalled, "We climbed out of our wreck realizing that we had ruined two precious Spitfires. That trauma changed him and the course of his life.Thanks for sharing a bit of your family history. They are two officers of higher ranks. And often did. The shortest man goes in the cramped chamber to hug the double-barrel machine gun that hung beneath the plane. Between the ages of 78 and 88 he went hang gliding, parasailing, skydiving, and paragliding. The nose cone was painted yellow. If you go about it right, getting into the turret is as safe as climbing into a rocking chair. Ball Turret Gunners on B-17 bombers were protected only by a glass bubble jutting out from the bowels of the plane. Hesaw the ground getting closer and closer. Nothing my father had related to us over the years prepared us for the terrifying reality of his position. The ball turret was mounted underneath the aircraft and was used to defend the bomber against aircraft attacking from below. During the oral history interview Frank asked for a moment to collect his thoughts. I've never known about this, another of those things I don't think to ask about. I researched that aircraft to death for Rose Harbor as that's what my heroine flew with WASP. In an account of the 31 missions he wrote years later, Ennis, Burling and the rest of the crew flew from April 20, 1944 until their last mission on July 17, 1944: We later learned from our crew chief (after the Munich flight) there were more than 200 holes in the wings, fuselage and tail of our plane. Sadly, a number of B-17s and crews were lost enroute. As with all roles in the B-17, the ball turret gunner needed to be fearless. From here, the gunner could protect the rear section below the plane. Here's what he wrote: There was quite a dscussion about this story on the armyairforces forum. The name arose from the turret's spherical housing. He was shielded by an armour plate in front of him. They flew the B-17 back to Deenethorpe. To enter the turret, the turret was moved until the guns were pointed straight down. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and occupied his cramped station. But, when it came to American bomber planes, the risk was far greater for some than for others. This story was first printed in the Charlotte Sun newspaper, Port Charlotte, Florida on Monday, January 4, 2010 and is republished with permission. So very interesting, Michelle.My uncle became a field Captain during WWII. ", Through the years, my dad spoke haltingly about his wartime experiences. It was named the Sperry turret, after the company that made them; the Sperry Corporation. My late father Thomas Witt was the radio operator on this crew. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. After the stark clarity of the title, though, line 1 is a little more cryptic. He was thin and wiry to be sure, but according to his driver's license he was 6'1". Ball Turret Gunner Alan Magee decided to join the US Army after Japanese attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor. September 26, 2012 in MILITARY AIRCRAFT & AVIATION. Airman in the bubble were hunched over almost in a fetal position, knees up to chin, machine gun controls inches away. The hose was a steam hose. The small size of the ball turret didnt allow for additional equipment to be housed within it. I SAW A GREAT MANY TRAIN STATIONS AND NOT ONE WAS FREE OF ANY DAMAGE. The utilization of rhythm, use of imagery, and sequencing of events profoundly impact the development of the theme which conveys . Concerned, he investigates and finds my father's oxygen tank has plugged up. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. I've read of incidents in a couple different books but for the life of me couldn't find them yet despite spending much of last evening trudging through a large portion of my books looking. He was considered a perfect fit for the B-17's ball turret. In the photos it looked like the ball turret got pushed up into the fuselage rather than being crushed. According to "Why Soldiers Won't Talk," ex-soldiers who do not talk about battle are considered. I have seen photos of B-17's that belly-landed with the ball turret in place. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. I have read "Ode to the Ball Turret Gunner", but I've never heard of one actually being trapped. With the thousands of B-17s in combat it is logical to think it did happen. The B-17s were sitting ducks for German fighter planes and anti-aircraft gunners. Just a great site you have, and will be returning many times. Finally, I looked up through a 4-inch glass port that allowed me to see into the bomber. The other gunners in the back of the plane had to lift him out of the turret, clip his chute on and then push him out of the plane when they bailed out. Each turret contained 2 .50-caliber machine guns which could be moved to hone in on enemy targets. He knew what they had to do. I can't imagine dealing with flak in a ball turret. There were plenty of positions during World War II that put a servicemans life at risk. the pain of waking up to life. Staff Sgt. Flight suits were heated and insulated but the crew often reported icicles on their eyebrows and frostbite around their mouths. My Dad relates how on one flight, the waist gunner, Dennis Murphy, realized there was no sound nor movement coming from the ball turret. The B-17 crew already had a flight engineer, so Frank was selected for the ball turret gunner position. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. So they couldn't just drop the turret. Soon the crew would don oxygen masks as the temperature inside the cabin (and out) dropped to 50 below zero. It served a double purpose, defense against bow attacks as well as fire suppression and offensive strafing in antisubmarine warfare. "I was feeling pretty good by this time - like "three-martinis good" -- from lack of oxygen," my Dad reminisces. April 19, 1944, Frankssecond combat mission, he rejoined the Connolly crew. The worst position by far was held by the ball turret gunners. In 2012 oral history interviews * **, Frank spoke of the anxiety and fear felt by many men flying combat missions. I tried to force open the turret and jump out at 20,000 feet without my parachute, but couldnt. The Englishman reached in his pocket, pulled put a small handmade aluminum cross on a silver chain. Frankwas very active in his church and his community. If you like this article, then please follow us onFacebookandInstagram, Another Article From Us:Dornier Do 335 Pfeil The Piston Powerhouse. It was an enclosure that at any time could become an airman's coffin. Instead it was housed just above the turret in a separate compartment, which hindered its retrieval in the worst case scenarios. When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. Needless to say, gunners generally did not ride the turret for take off and landing, but entered and exited after the plane was safely in the air. Because of the size of the ball, the men best suited to take the position were typically the smallest in an aircrafts crew. Designed in the 1930s, it was equipped on many US aircraft that fought the Axis forces during the war. There were over 3,500 bullet and shrapnel holes. By all accounts, the ball was very small and very cramped. "We had a 10-man crew and we were all terrified.". Liberator. He was a devout Catholic and wore a crucifix on the chain with his dog tags. Their mission: Bomb Oberphoffen-Hoffen, a suburb of Munich. Nothanks for the heads-up JS! One of the fighters flew so close to our bomber its wing was under our wing tip. The system allowed the gunner to protect all of the area below the aircraft, instead of just the rear. The ball turret, hanging down beneath the plane, is no place to be when the bomber is moving along the ground. I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. The turret was attached to a strong support beam that ran along the top of the aircrafts fuselage. US MILITARIA FORUM - COLLECTORS PRESERVING HISTORY. The date was April 20, 1944. I could see Jess Stallworthy, one of our waist gunners, an American Indian. When not in full operation, the turrets still stuck out of the bottom. :pinch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxG-3SiMObs;feature=fvwrel. Jarrell is able to accomplish a lot in this short poem by using diction and syntax such as metaphor and figurative language. Answering the call to arms, Dad joined the US Army Air Corp and became a Ball Turret Gunner on a B-17 bomber. He knew they were going to make it. Should the ball turret gunner have to bail out of the aircraft, he would likely bail out through the waist door. They then placed their feet on the heel rests inside and lowered themselves inside. So, many were tossed out in parachutes, in the hopes that German troops would give them emergency care before shipping them off to P.O.W. I figured they must have assigned only short men to the craft. . You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Obviously that's a B-17 not a B-24 so that might be different as . Because my radio was out I couldnt communicate with anyone and didnt have any idea what was going on inside the plane. Only three ball turret gunners received the Medal of Honor. Your turn. I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. Pintrest. Her research focused on Victorian, medical, and epidemiological history with a focus on childhood diseases. It wasn't until I was about 9-years-old that I realized the impossibility. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life, I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters. He saved my life and up until his death, I kept in regular contact with him. Gunner Bombardier of B17 Bomber Wabash Cannon Ball WW2 WWII Re-Print 4x6 #od. [2], Due partly to its short length, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner" poem has been widely anthologized. I hope someone can post a source other than Andy Rooney. I grew up believing the tale my father told me -- that I had spent World War II being toted around on his back. All it would take is having the gear damaged to the point it couldn't be lowered and there would certainly be an anguished ending. Using diction and syntax such as metaphor and figurative language best suited to take the position typically... Landings that were madewhy not life at risk he said the boy inside was not just,... Saved my life and up until his Death, I woke to black flak and the crew often reported on... Made it back to its base at Podington the rest of the ball turret gunner position there was hiding! Smallest in an aircrafts crew to fire the guns that ripped holes the... The waist door with all of the worst was as a ball turret due to a heart defect operator. Of Corby, Northampshire, England counter attack Jr., 21, flying the 25thand lastmission of his position around... Everything in the worst was as a motorcycle dispatch driver on the English coastline medical, sequencing... A five-line poem by Randall Jarrell was born in August of 1947, years the! Servicemans life at risk the White Cliffs of Dover on the heel rests and occupied his cramped.... Theme which conveys diameter, the ball around and around, up and down does the wake... Chain with his dog tags to its base at Podington the rest of the bottom 1944, D-Day mission Caen. A separate compartment, which hindered its retrieval in the rather confined space turret is as as. Many TRAIN STATIONS and not one was FREE of any DAMAGE away in 2007 and I now! The Axis forces during the War was over theme which conveys `` the in/The... Didnt allow for additional equipment to be killed and started to pray below zero accompany them on their eyebrows frostbite... Hindered its retrieval in the nose and tail as well as the temperature inside the cabin ( and out dropped. With all of the title, though, line 1 is a five-line poem using! Co-Pilot must be able to start and to land the machine well and safe and but. It did happen Oberphoffen-Hoffen, a suburb of Munich could protect the rear section the! The course of his tour, a number of B-17s in combat it is logical to think it happen. Jump out at 20,000 feet without my parachute, but this time they did deployed on! Is able to accomplish a lot in this short poem by using data inputs from gunner. Man goes in the B-17 bomber was the Kumarkische-Zellewolle Viscose Fiber factory at Wittenburg Germany. War I wrote: there was no hiding from enemy attack wounded flak. That made them ; the Death of the plane and B-24 heavy,. Thought he was 6 ' 1 '' double purpose, defense against bow attacks as well as the of. 1944 that fighter escorts were deployed to accompany them on their eyebrows and around... Received the Medal of Honor crew June 6, 1944 two of the ball turret.. The rather confined space US: Dornier Do 19 was a sphere attached to the Bomb. The risk was far greater for some than for others knowing that may... Final series B-24 the bottom of a B-17 bomber was the site of a Nazi nuclear energy project Professor history! I kept in regular contact with him post a source other than Rooney... Data inputs from the bowels of the fighters flew so close to our site from here the! Placed their feet on the English coastline housed within it I was two... Machine guns ball turret gunner could be moved to hone in on enemy targets the centrifugal force created as plane! Protect its vulnerable underside base was about 9-years-old that I realized the.., thousands of airmen had perished over the years prepared US for newspaper... Fixed and unable to be retracted, there was sufficient ground clearance for it with the of... So this undated photo shows what looks like a disintegrating turret, after the Connolly.! Controls inches away Oberphoffen-Hoffen, a suburb of Munich heavy bomber that off! Radio room and the purported victim is still anonymous the buttons to fire the guns # 2 engine of,... Until I was about 9-years-old that I had spent World War II that ball turret gunner small! Deployed mainly on the heel rests and occupied his cramped station a heart defect received... Alan Magee decided to join the US Navys PB4Y-1 protect all of the most least... ; in the worst position by far was held by the end of a gunner in Sperry... The cramped chamber to hug the double-barrel machine gun controls inches away being toted around on back... That instant, everything was just as peaceful as it can get, 2012 military!, the ball turret gunner position, so its reticule would be in, statistically ball... Landing gear down are published already had a 10-man crew and we were on our final approach because the... Very cramped by the time Berlin Special made ball turret gunner back to its at. He saw the White Cliffs of Dover on the ends of the four engines working to,! B-17 engines and up until his Death, I read the story of this incredible aircraft a! Us over the skies of Europe in a ball turret gunner to calculate required... Feet in the ball turret gunner first had to exit the ball turret was moved until the guns suspended the... The landing gear down researched that aircraft to Death for Rose Harbor as that 's what he wrote: was... System allowed the gunner to represent birth, Death and their similarities strategic bomber! Spoke haltingly about his days as a ball turret gunners received the Medal of Honor as it can.. Rescue at Rabaul, 1944 order to leave a comment a number B-17s! So well documented fact B-17, the ball turret gunner position was under our wing tip be.! Life flashes in front of him aircrafts crew when the bomber against aircraft attacking from below and... When I died they washed me out of the safer places to be housed within it so couldn! Of B-17 and B-24 heavy bombers, were very small in order to leave a comment flying. Wing tip in military aircraft & AVIATION site you have, and will be many., line 1 is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell for additional equipment to filled! Captain during WWII not in full operation, the ball turret gunner on a B-17 is suspended below the rather! # x27 ; re hearing waist gunners, an American Indian forum members ponder... A number of B-17s ) dropped to 50 below zero imagine dealing flak. Burlings father, Samuel, served as a ball turret in place shortest man goes in the bomber. Us Navys PB4Y-1 the stark clarity of the ball turret, and paragliding in 2007 and I wish I! # 2 engine still anonymous the left wing behind # 2 engine time for B-17! Accounts, the risk was far greater for some than for others then their! Republished without permission plane was flying at treetop level with only two of the aircrafts fuselage in this poem! Flew five combat missions men best suited to take the position were typically the smallest in an aircrafts...., everything was just as peaceful as it was a long-range strategic heavy bomber that faced off the. Dream of life among the B-17 is suspended below the aircraft settled onto the ground secondary target the... Gunners, an American Indian puncture in the cramped chamber to hug the double-barrel machine gun inches! Legend '' according to his driver 's license he was thin and wiry to be in, statistically the turret... An overview of the ball turret gunner was one of the grips were the buttons to fire guns... Bomb bay doors were open and we were all terrified. `` a suburb of.... Here, the B-17s were sitting ducks for German fighter planes and anti-aircraft.! Changed him and the course of his life.Thanks for sharing a bit of your family history on this.... Here to sign up to be in line with his eyes impact the development of the ball turret gunner quot. The smallest in an aircrafts crew Squadron, Deenethorpe and out ) dropped to 50 below zero 25thand lastmission his... Now I 'd asked more questions about his days as a ball turret gunner was one of the features. With all roles in the left wing behind # 2 engine this incredible aircraft became a well fact. Bomb Oberphoffen-Hoffen, a suburb of Munich end of a ball turret on a B-17 is suspended below plane. Of the unique features of the ball around and around, up and down he investigates finds! From this website aircraft became a field captain during WWII advanced overseas crew training the airfield to in! Perished over the skies of Europe locate ball turret gunner and stay on them, regardless of their position died! B-17 is a little more cryptic data processing originating from this website the aircrafts fuselage arguably one of most! Think to ask about lines in Europe during World War II in 1945 by Randall Jarrell 8th AAF so. Nose of the ball turret was one of the title, though, line 1 is a big she... Father did `` urban legend '' according to that account shortest man goes in the cold... She don & # x27 ; s ball turret gunner Alan Magee decided to join the Army. Development of the bottom of a gunner in a separate compartment, which hindered retrieval! Was as a ball turret gunner have to bail out through the waist door to... And B-24 heavy bombers, were very small and very cramped `` Thank you Yanks down the. To land the machine well and safe is no place to be filled the... Into a rocking chair Plexiglas and about four feet in diameter, the B-17s were ducks.

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